


Musings of Fate

by i-wanna-be-your-last (hmweasley)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 07:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2804135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/i-wanna-be-your-last
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I do have the occasional exception to the exception in the form of extreme cases where outsiders seem strongly intent on ruining an individual's fate. These cause me by far the most hassle, but it is rare.</p><p>As soon as Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson appeared on my radar I knew they were one of these exceptions to the exception. The two humans have come to dominate a good deal of my efforts at this point in history, and the funny thing is that it’s not even them I’m fighting."</p><p>(i.e. Fate thinks about Louis and Harry.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Musings of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and how cool it is that it's narrated by Death. Somehow my mind wandered to "what if Fate narrated Louis and Harry's story." This short thing was the result of that. It was fun to write.
> 
> [Russian translation.](https://ficbook.net/readfic/4203617)

I take pride in my work. When I’ve done my job, people are content to go about their lives knowing that everything is right and as it should be. As long as they’re unhappy, I have work to do.

Some journeys are smoother than other journeys. I always lay out the path, but some follow it more closely and with purpose while others meander along and take the occasional detour, for better or worse. You have the humans who are eager to follow their future. They’ll run down the path so quickly that I can hardly keep up. Then there are the humans who resist for whatever reason. These are the ones who want to stay stuck in the past, furiously resisting any attempts I make to push them to their future. These are the ones who are constantly trying to move forward but somehow never go quite the way I need them too.

The ironic thing is that the later ones are the ones I grow attached to. These are the humans who cause me to slave away every day to keep them on track. My instructions are unchangeable, but it’s my job to make the humans interpret them correctly. My friend Death likes to say that he’s haunted by humans. I share the sentiment. Some unhappiness is just a fact of human life, but so much of it is due to my own failures. It’s those failures that haunt me.

As for the humans who don’t resist, I rarely pay them any mind. The happier the human, the less work for me, and these humans can go their whole lives without me paying much attention to them. I set them on their way, check up now and again, and devote most of my time to the stubborn ones. That’s how it always works.

Or how it had always worked except in the extreme cases where I’m dealing with stubbornness not from the people themselves but from those around them. I’m talking about the cases where a human knows very well what their fate is, but it is others standing in their way. These are usually easier cases as long as the individuals stay strong themselves. Few humans work tirelessly to prevent the fate of someone else, so I pull a few strings and set things in motion. We’re good.

I do have the occasional exception to the exception in the form of extreme cases where outsiders seem strongly intent on ruining an individual's fate. These cause me by far the most hassle, but it is rare.

As soon as Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson appeared on my radar I knew they were one of these exceptions to the exception. The two humans have come to dominate a good deal of my efforts at this point in history, and the funny thing is that it’s not even them I’m fighting.

I’m always having to adjust to the times. Dreams change; lifestyles change; and I have to be on top of all of it. When the entertainment industry started becoming what it was, I worried. Here I was finally starting to fight less against those stupid laws humans pass like bans on what perfectly capable adults can be in a relationship with other perfectly capable adults, and they had to go and create this godforsaken media industry as yet another barrier for people to overcome.

Many humans think celebrities have it all, but I’m the one guiding them toward their fates, helping them overcome all the hurdles. Some have it easier than others. They take to fame like a moth to a flame and never seem to struggle. They bask in the flashing lights and constant attention with little worry about the struggles that come with fame. They have everything they need.

But those celebrities are rare. Most have to struggle with the pressure to be perceived as “perfect” in the media’s perception of that term. Yes, I spend far more time with celebrities than most would think, yet my struggle is rarely with them.

I’ve discovered in the past century or so that those high up in the music industry are really good at making their clients’ dreams come true while also actively keeping them from their true fate the majority of the time. Most of them seem to have very little idea of what damage they’re actually causing, but I can’t read their minds to state with certainty how aware they are of their cruelty.

Some events just fill me up with excitement because they’re so full of potential, and as odd as it would sound to the more discerning public, some of those events are television singing competitions. I love them. They make my job so much easier. If someone is destined for fame, I can just nudge them towards the audition process and let them ride the rest of the wave themselves.

How else was I supposed to get five random boys from across England and Ireland into one group so they could go on to become the biggest boyband in the world? When I’d discovered that was their fate, I knew I’d have to get creative, and The X Factor was one of the only options I had. Any other way would have included pulling far more strings than I could keep up with.

That didn’t mean I didn’t have some fun.

For me, time doesn’t have to be linear. I know the fate of every single person who will live at any point in time. But I’ve discovered that taking the linear route like the humans I influence has a certain appeal to it. There’s an excitement to only looking to the close future of those on earth at the present time.

When each child is born I take a quick look at their life, just to see, but I don’t get into any specifics. When Louis was born I became intrigued with what I saw, knowing he had a long road ahead of him. When Zayn appeared later on, I became even more excited. It grew with the births of Liam and Niall, but nothing could prepare me for the excitement of Harry’s birth.

With the space between them geographically, I had a while before I could manage anything fun, but getting Louis and Harry to the same The Script concert long before X Factor remains one of my prouder moments. I toyed with the idea of them meeting that day, but ultimately decided that would be just a bit full of myself. It would look too odd once X Factor came around. It would have created a very different present, even if the fates wouldn’t have changed.

When the day of their auditions came, I wasted no time in getting Louis and Harry near each other as soon as possible. I’d waited years for the opportunity. It took intense crafting to get them near enough to each other in line to make sure their eyes fell on each other before they could even properly meet. I took delight in it as I always take delight in my work. The thrill of knowing two people have just seen their future before they have any hint that it’s their future. It’s what I thrive on!. It’s part of the real life love stories that I watch develop every single day.

I had fun with them on The X Factor. Everything was new and exciting in a wide variety of ways, and I built them up and helped lay the foundation for their future success. I needed them strong for what I knew was coming. I had braced myself for everything after the show. The denials. The beards. The forced separations. None of it was pretty, but I knew they would face it head on.

And I say that without the advantage of looking all that far into the future. No, I’ve decided that the story of Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles is above that. It’s a truly remarkable story that I know deserves to be played out for me on its own time and not spoiled by looking at the end. No matter how much I long to at times.

What I can say as of now is that this story will have a beautiful conclusion, and I say this with the jaded outlook of someone who has watched every love story in history. There have been remarkably few stories like Louis and Harry’s. That’s how I know that, however this story plays out, it’ll play out beautifully, and as with all of the greatest love stories in history, I won’t be the only outsider to appreciate this one.


End file.
